New York Times Endorses Senate Candidate it Barely Covered

On Saturday, The New York Timesendorsed 84-year-old senator Frank Lautenberg in his race with challenger, Republican Richard Zimmer:

Mr. Lautenberg has been an effective champion of banning smoking on domestic airlines and in other public places. He continues to push for reasonable restrictions on gun ownership and improved protections against terrorism at chemical plants. After years advocating for public transportation, Mr. Lautenberg scored an important victory when his bill nearly doubling Amtrak’s inadequate annual $1 billion subsidy became law.

However, according to a post on PolitickerNJ.com, the Gray Lady has largely ignored the race. “Not once has the Times written a story about the general election contest between Frank Lautenberg and Dick Zimmer,” writes the site’s editor, Juan Melli. “(By comparison, Cynthia Burton at the Philadelphia Inquirer has written 11 pieces on the race.)”

Melli argues, accurately, that no one reads the Times for its New Jersey coverage  in fact, the paper pulled its Trenton and Newark bureaus earlier this year  but wonders if the editorial page skews hypocritical for discussing a race the paper’s political editors saw no impetus to cover.